Love is patient, Love is kind
by AnInfinityInDarkness
Summary: During BoO, dark powers seek to control the Prince of Death, as he is a great ally to those who he decides to help. When Gaea decides to recruit him however, he declines, so she has to resolve to force... Alternate ending for Blood of Olympus.
1. Prologue

He thought he was prepared.

He wasn't.

Even after three days of rest and the wondrous healing properties of Coach Hedge's gooey brown gunk, Nico started to dissolve the moment he shadow-jumped.

His limbs turned to vapour. Cold seeped into his chest. Voices of spirits whispered in his ears: Help us. Remember us. Join us.

He hadn't realized how much he had relied on Reyna. Without her strength, he felt as weak as a newborn colt, wobbling dangerously, ready to fall at every step.

No, he told himself. I am Nico di Angelo, son of Hades. I control the shadows. They do not control me.

He stumbled back into the mortal world at the crest of Half-Blood Hill.

He fell to his knees, hugging Thalia's pine tree for support. The Golden Fleece was no longer in its branches. The guardian dragon was gone. Perhaps they'd been moved to a safer spot with the battle so close. Nico wasn't sure. But, looking down at the Roman forces arrayed outside the valley, his spirits wavered.

The nearest onager was a hundred yards downhill, encircled in spiked trenches and guarded by a dozen demigods. The machine was primed, ready to fire. Its huge sling cupped a projectile the size of a Honda Civic, glowing with flecks of gold. With icy certainty, Nico realized what Octavian was up to.

The projectile was a mixture of incendiaries and Imperial gold. Even a small "amount of Imperial gold could be incredibly volatile. Exposed to too much heat or pressure, the stuff would explode with devastating impact, and of course it was deadly to demigods as well as monsters.

If that onager scored a hit on Camp Half-Blood, anything in the blast zone would be annihilated – vaporized by the heat, or disintegrated by the shrapnel. And the Romans had six onagers, all stocked with piles of ammunition.

'Evil,' Nico thought. 'This is evil.' _'It is evil, but some things need to be sacrificed for the Greater Good, do they not?' _ 'Shut up di Angelo, you know its wrong.' He whispered to himself, but a sense of heaviness had settled onto his shoulders, and he put it down to his nervousness of the task looming ahead.

He tried to think. Dawn was breaking. He couldn't possibly take down all six weapons before the attack began, even if he found the strength to shadow-travel that many times. If he managed it once more, it would be a miracle.

He spotted the Roman command tent – behind and to the left of the legion. Octavian would probably be there, enjoying breakfast at a safe distance from the fighting. He wouldn't lead his troops into battle. The little scumbag would hope to destroy the Greek camp from a distance, wait for the flames to die down, then march in unopposed.

Nico's throat constricted with hate. He concentrated on that tent, envisioning his next jump. If he could assassinate Octavian, that might solve the problem. The order to attack might never be given. Nico was about to attempt it when a voice behind him said, 'Nico?'

He spun, his sword instantly in his hand, and almost decapitated Will Solace.

'Put that down!' Will hissed. 'What are you doing here?'

Nico was dumbstruck. Will and two other campers were crouched in the grass, binoculars around their necks and daggers at their side. They wore black jeans and T-shirts, with black grease paint on their faces like commandos.

'Me?' Nico asked. 'What are you doing? Getting yourselves killed?'

Will scowled. 'Hey, we're scouting the enemy. We took precautions.'

'You dressed in black,' Nico noted, 'with the sun coming up. You painted your face but didn't cover that mop of blond hair. You might as well be waving a bright yellow flag signaling your arrival.'

Will's ears reddened. 'Lou Ellen wrapped some Mist around us, too.'

'Hi.' The girl next to him wriggled her fingers. She looked a little flustered. 'You're Nico, right? I've heard a lot about you. And this is Cecil from Hermes cabin.'

Nico knelt next to them. 'Did Coach Hedge make it to camp?'

Lou Ellen giggled nervously. 'Did he _ever_.'


	2. 1 : Recruiting the Dark Angel

"Will elbowed her. 'Yeah. Hedge is fine. He made it just in time for the baby's birth.'

'The baby!' Nico grinned, which hurt his face muscles. He wasn't used to making that expression. The smile slipped off his face as fast as it appeared, as a guarded look in his eyes surfaced. 'Mellie and the kid are all right?' Nico asked gruffly.

'Fine. A very cute little satyr boy.' Will shuddered. 'But I delivered it. Have you ever delivered a baby?'

'No, and neither do I think I would want to.'

'I had to get some fresh air. That's why I volunteered for this mission. Gods of Olympus, my hands are still shaking. See?'

He took Nico's hand, which sent a chill down Nico's spine. He snatched his hand away from Will's. 'Whatever,' he snapped. 'We don't have time for chitchat. The Romans are attacking at dawn and I've got to –'

'We know,' Will said. 'But, if you're planning to shadow-travel to that command tent, forget it.'

Nico glared at him. 'Excuse me?'

Instead of flinching or looking away, Will's sky-blue eyes stayed fixed on his – annoyingly determined. 'Hedge told me all about your shadow-travel. You cannot try that again.'

'I just did try it again, Solace. I'm fine.'

'No, you're not. I'm a healer. I could feel the darkness in your hand as soon as I touched it. Even if you made it to that tent, you'd be in no shape to fight. But you wouldn't make it. One more slip, and you won't come back. You are not shadow-travelling. Doctor's orders.'

'The camp is about to be destroyed –'

'And we'll stop the Romans,' Will said. 'But we'll do it our way. Lou Ellen will control the Mist. We'll sneak around, do as much damage as we can to those onagers. But no shadow-travelling.

'I do whatever I want, Will.'

'_No_.'

'Whatever Solace.' Nico said. 'The darkness? Its part of me. I'm a son of Hades. _This_, was what you were feeling.' A dark aura winked into life around him. Hellfire danced around his palm as he straightened.

'B-but... You were exhausted. I felt it, you were ready to collapse...' Will ran his hand through his hair in confusion, messing up his already disheveled hair.

'Gaea is already almost awake. When she wakes, we will all be doomed. Choose the winning side, Solace. _Join us_.' Nico's dark eyes flashed as he said those words. The gentleness that was in Nico's eyes a few minutes ago was replaced by a harshness that seemed to make it look as if his eyes were just a little... Red.

'N-Nico, are you alright?' Will asked tentatively.

Nico opened his mouth to answer, only to close it again, seemingly to have a mental fight with himself. Several emotions flickered across his face - confusion, anger, and fearfulness.

'Although,' Will thought to himself, 'I might have imagined it. Nico isn't scared of anything...' His train of thoughts trickled away as he focused on what was in front of him.

'I-I don't know what caused me to say that...' Nico's voice visibly shook and his face was a mask of terror. 'Help m-' He groaned in mid sentence, and caved into himself, pain etched onto every fiber of his being. An invisible hand gripped Nico's heart, as a voice echoed in his mind.

_'Nico, always so desperate to help, are we now? Don't you remember the days where everyone was afraid of you? They still are, aren't they? Even look at Will Solace's friends. They're terrified of you. Join me Nico di Angelo, and you will be accepted. Join me, and I can give you anything you want. You will be even more powerful with me, even better than that Percy Jackson or Jason Grace. I'll even allow you to take your sister Hazel with you, although many of my children want her dead, as she did delay my arising.'_

'No.' Nico whispered as he lay on the ground, shuddering. 'I will not join you...' He could feel himself on the brink of unconsciousness, and it would be so easy to just fall into that pit of darkness. He could hear Will, Lou Ellen and Cecil calling his name desperately, but their voices seemed so far away...

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><p><strong>Here's the first actual chapter guys! Nico is bæ af. Please Review! I hope you all like it, so chillax, there's more to come!<strong>

**~Hades out~**


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